From Hothead to Husband
by Xx.LoveIsABlessing.xX
Summary: Sequel to 'Taming the Town Outlaw'. Being married is amazing for Ty and Amy, but every relationship has it's bumps along the road.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

The stormey grey eyes of a young woman shifted forward and back, forward and back, following the nervous pacings of a young husband. Her young husband.

"Ty, your Mom's gonna be fine. You met her date and apparently he passed your examination because you even said you liked him." Amy Baldwin said as her husband of three months, Ty, nervously paced around their living room.

"I didn't say I liked him, I said he seems alright." Ty responded, still pacing with his eyes to the floor and arms folded moodily over his chest.

Amy sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. Somethings were just too ingrained in Ty to be good, even if he did have good intentions at heart.

The passing of Brad Baldwin years before then had made a lasting impact on Ty, his only son, leading to outlawish behaviors like bar fights and drinking. But it had also made him overly protective of his mother, Karen Baldwin. He'd ran off several guys who'd been interested in dating his mother and felt no shame for it. He wasn't going to let anyone he thought wasn't good enough for his Momma have a chance with her, so when she'd come over for dinner a few nights before then talking about a date she was going on that weekend, Ty had instantly wanted to know who the man was and various things about him; what he did, where he worked, if he went to church, etc.

While Karen found her son's behaviors about her dating somewhat amusing, Amy thought Ty needed to give his mother a chance to have a boyfriend. She knew it'd be hard for Ty to see his mother with someone other than his dad, but they both knew that Brad Baldwin would have wanted Karen to be with someone when he was gone who would love her and treat her like she deserved.

Finally having had enough of the pacing, Amy stood and wrapped her arms around Ty's waist to stop him, making him look at her. He frowned at her.

"Relax honey. You know she'll be fine. She's your Momma, not your daughter." Amy said, smiling at him teasingly. It worked, he cracked a smile and chuckled.

"Remind me where I would be without you?" He said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Mmm, knowing the old you in the bar or in the county holding cell." Amy said honestly. Ty laughed.

"Sad thing is that's probably true." He said before laughing again, shaking his head at his own self. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers gently.

"I love you." He whispered and she smiled.

"I love you too, Ty." She said and nuzzled him gently before stepping back and smiling at him. She went back over to the couch and he looked out of the window one more time before following her and sitting beside her, putting an arm around her.

Amy picked up the remote and turned on the television, looking for a good show to keep Ty preoccupied.

Knowing what Amy was up to, Ty smiled softly to himself and pressed his lips to her forehead before resting his cheek against her hair and watching the show she'd found.

She helped him relax by slipping her hand in his shirt and rubbing small circles over his stomach, a method called T-touch that she had learned while working with the horses.

Ty sighed in content, kicking off his boots before crossing his ankles on the coffee table and sinking down on the couch so that his head rested against Amy's shoulder while she worked over his stomach. He let his eyes slip closed, the show forgotten. Amy smiled at him lovingly.

"Feel better now?" She whispered, running the fingers of her free hand into his hair.

"Keep doing this and I'm gonna fall asleep." Ty said honestly, body lax and voice turning drowsy.

Amy giggled and nuzzled him, making him smile, "I love how easily this calms you."

"Say it like it is, it puts me at your mercy and you love it." Ty said teasingly and looked up at her out of sleepy, half open eyes.

Amy giggled, "Well, maybe a little bit." She said.

"Knew it." Ty sighed and sat up, Amy looking at him in alarm.

"What are you doing?" She asked. He smiled at her softly before pulling off his shirt and stretching out on the couch, rolling onto his stomach. He folded his arms and laid his chin on them.

"Alright, lemme have it." He muttered and closed his eyes. Amy grinned at him and stood, sitting on his back and straddling his hips. He sighed softly as she started working her fingers over his back.

"Ya know, this isn't fair how ya do this to me so easily." Ty muttered, turning to rest his cheek against his forearm.

Amy leaned forward and pressed her lips to the back of his neck, making him tremble.

"Not fair." He nearly whined and she laughed. She gently pressed the tips of her fingers to his warm flesh and he moaned, "Ames you're being unfair!"

Amy laughed, loving how Ty reacted so strongly to her.

"You keep this up and we're gonna end up in the bedroom." Ty warned, eyes closed and his cheek against his forearm, as Amy leaned forward to kiss up his neck and nibble teasingly on his ear.

Amy grinned, and breathed gently against his ear, another tremble quaking his lean frame from her warm breath.

"That's it, I warned ya." Ty muttered, rolling over and swooping Amy up, making her laugh as he threw her over his bare shoulder and started towards their bedroom.

Carrying Amy easily, he kicked the bedroom door shut behind them and placed her down on the bed, eagerly pressed his lips to hers and laying his body against hers, holding her to the bed. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and sighing into the kiss, moaning softly as Ty expertly slipped his tongue past her teeth to roam her mouth.

"Now who's not being fair?" Amy gasped as Ty broke the kiss to start moving down her neck with his lips, nibbling at her pulse.

He grinned, "What goes around, comes around, love."

"I'll make you remember that." Amy sighed as he slipped her shirt over her head and kissed her shoulder.

Ty chuckled and moved back up her body to press his lips to hers, "Lookin' forward to it."

_**FHH**_

Resting against Ty's bare body, his arm around her and her arm across his stomach, Amy felt sleepy and content. Ty was nearly asleep himself, eyes closed as he memorized the feeling of Amy's body against his own. He loved these times with her, the two of them together and just enjoying being with each other after making love.

"I love you." Ty sighed, rolling onto his side and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest.

She smiled and pressed her lips over his heart, "I love you too."

A moment later, Ty fell asleep, holding Amy's body as close as he could as he slept. Amy listened to him breathe for a moment, again thanking God that Ty was really her's, that she had such an amazing husband.

When she'd first met Ty over a year ago, even after he agreed to her terms when they'd started dating, she never would have dreamed that he would have come so far in the short amount of time that they'd been together. He never ceased to amaze her.

Thinking of what people had said when she'd first gotten together with Ty always made Amy laugh. They'd thought that she had lost her mind. Ty had been the worst boy in the world for her in their eyes, and she'd thrown away her future by getting with him.

Now to hear them talk, they were still amazed at his miraculous transformation from a hothead into a self controlled, respectable young man. And they put all of the credit on Amy, when she knew differently.

It had been Ty and the Lord who had made Ty's change happen. Ty wouldn't have done anything he didn't want to, and only the Lord Himself could have made it happen so fast and so strongly. Now, while Ty had always been amazing in Amy's eyes, he was almost too good to be true. There were still times when she could hardly believe that she was not only with Ty, but now married to him.

And she was so, so happy that she was.

Nearly asleep, Amy said a quick prayer before she could fall completely asleep.

_'Lord, I thank You again for bringing Ty into my life. He's everything I ever could have wanted and more, and I can't thank You enough. I pray that Ty's love for me never lessens, because I know that my love for him will only strengthen through You, Lord. Thank You for another blessed day, and please let tomorrow be just as good, if not better. I pray for a bright future and more blessings to come. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.'_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Amy was woke up the next morning by Ty slipping out of the bed as carefully as he could, trying but failing to leave her sleeping while he went to shower.

"I'm sorry baby, go back to sleep. Didn't mean to wake ya up." Ty whispered to her, brushing her hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. She smiled at him sleepily.

"What are you going to do? Even you aren't normally up this early." Amy said quietly, voice full of sleep. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was four thirty in the morning and though Ty was notorious for getting up at the crack of dawn, this was early even for him.

"Baby, today's the first day of deer season. I explained it the other day?" Ty said, grinning at her as she yawned and stretched, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness so that she could see him standing by the bed, only a pair of boxers on him.

"How about instead of going and killing some poor innocent Bambi you lay back down and keep me warm?" Amy offered, smiling at him seductively.

Ty bit his lip, fighting the urge to do just that, "You liked that deer meat I cooked up when we were dating, you don't want me to make some more of it?"

"Well sure but you can go hunting later." Amy said, more awake now and wanting to coax Ty back into bed. She pretended to not notice when the blankets slipped down to show her breast, fighting back a grin when Ty's eyes followed the blanket's descent.

She was disappointed when Ty seemed to force himself to look away.

"Not if I want to get a deer, sugar. I gotta beat them out there." Ty said, leaning and pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before forcing himself to turn around and go to the bathroom to shower, his camouflage already laid out on the bathroom counter. Amy had no idea how hard it was for him to walk away and leave her alone in the bed after that little show.

Amy pouted for a second before curling up under the covers and closed her eyes, wondering if she would be back asleep before Ty came out of the bathroom.

Showering quickly, Ty washed with as little soap as possible so that the scent of it wouldn't cling to his skin and give him away to the deer. Then he dried off and pulled on his boxers before grabbing the camo pants he'd chosen for the day. They weren't baggy, like most of the hunting pants he'd seen, and they had numerous pockets for holding bullets and calls, as well as his wallet and deer tags.

The shirt he pulled on was camouflage Under Armor, skin tight it clung to his frame. He stepped out of the bathroom to get the rest of his clothes and Amy poked her head out from under the blankets on their bed. She raised an eyebrow as she looked him over.

"So this is what you wear for hunting." She said.

Ty sat down on the bed to pull on his socks and boots and smiled at her, "What about it?"

"I like it." Amy shrugged and reached out to feel the material of the shirt, Ty glancing at her in amusement as he pulled on his boot and stood, going and grabbing the long sleeved camo shirt he wore over the Under Armor. He quickly buttoned it and tucked it into his jeans before slipping on his jacket and orange hunting vest. Grabbing his hunting cap from the dresser, he turned back to Amy.

"Maybe one day you can come too." Ty offered and Amy smiled at him.

"Maybe. I don't know if I can get up this early and more than likely not see anything. But I guess it'd be worse on me if I got up and _did_ see something. I couldn't kill a cute little deer." Amy said.

Ty chuckled, "Ah, just think of it like you're sendin' 'em on home to the Lord, Ames. That's how I was raised to think of it. I'll be back in a few hours, call me if you need me." Ty walked back to the bed and kissed Amy quickly before pulling the covers over her shoulder, "Get some more sleep, baby."

He walked out of their bedroom and Amy sighed, pulling his pillow to her and nestling into it before managing to fall back asleep.

Yeah, getting up this early to go sit in a deer stand and shoot at cute little animals? That wasn't for her. But she had liked the deer meat that Ty had made her when they'd been dating...

_**FHH**_

Ty counted himself as a lucky man when it came to deer hunting. With his house he had enough land that he could hunt in his backyard and not break a single law. He was far enough from the house or any kind of road, and there were always plenty of deer.

He and Amy would often see them out in the pasture, grazing with the horses that they kept on their land. They seemed to especially love to tick off Amy's gelding, Sundance. They would steal grass from under his nose and run, jumping the fence so that he couldn't catch them.

One of the other horses they had, a young quarter horse stallion that Ty had bought to breed with a mare his uncle had given them as a wedding present, was as sweet as he could be, even as a four year old stallion. He hadn't bred a mare yet, and Ty was waiting for him to get a little older before he would put him in with the seven year old mare they'd been given, another quarter horse. The mare was a fifteen-two hand grulla, while the stallion was a huge sixteen hand blue roan. Both were papered.

Sitting up in the deer stand he'd put up outside the horse pasture, Ty loaded a clip into his rifle and relaxed back to wait. He knew he'd see one, it was opening day for gun season. He always got one opening day.

A sound at the bottom of the tree had Ty cautiously looking down. He shook his head in amusement as Blue, short for Bar's Blue Prince, looked up at him curiously, ears as pricked as they could be as he reached his head towards Ty.

The horse pasture ended at the tree line, actually nailed into the very tree that Ty sat in, and so Blue could come see what his human friend was doing. And he was determined to find out what Ty was doing in a tree.

"Go on back, Blue." Ty whispered and waved his hand at the horse.

Blue snorted and tossed his head at Ty.

"Now cut that out before ya whack your head. Go on up to the barn, I'll be up there soon to feed." Ty whispered.

He wasn't worried that he might accidently mistake Blue for a deer, or even that Blue would scare the deer off. He didn't want the young horse getting spooked when the gun went off. The coming spring he was going to start trying to get Blue ready to go riding in the mountains. He'd already gotten the horse use to a saddle and he'd even sat on him a few times, but he would have to really work with him to get him ready for the mountains.

Finally getting bored, Blue ambled off with a snort, going over to the fence that separated him from Dolly's Precious Girl, or Precious, the grulla mare.

Ty sent a smile after the stallion and turned back in his deer stand, paying close attention to any possible movement of deer.

_**FHH**_

_'He must still be out in the stand because Blue keeps going over to it.' _Amy thought as she stood at the kitchen window, looking out at the back pasture and grinning whenever Blue would run from the tree where the stand was, tossing his head and bucking to try and get Ty to play with him.

_'Sorry sweetie, Ty wants deer meat tonight so he won't stop until he has some.' _Amy sighed and turned from the window, padding across the tile floor to the coffee pot, making her a warm cup of coffee before she returned to her and Ty's bedroom, still not ready to face the day. She wanted to lay around a little longer, it was only dawn after all.

Sitting on the bed, Amy turned on the TV in their room and sipped her coffee while she found something to watch, finally settling on a crime show.

Setting the pillows up behind her she snuggled her back into them and sipped her coffee, pulling the covers up to insure that she stayed warm. While she watched the show, she contemplated new ways of persuading Ty to stay in with her during deer season. A few of the ones she came up with made her wonder when she'd become so devious.

_'When I met Ty.' _She grinned at the thought.

Hey, she had to outsmart him sometimes, didn't she? Especially when it came to sleeping in and waking up in his arms instead of in a cold bed while he went and sat in a tree.

Amy shivered. And when he came in, his hands would be freezing because he'd been sitting out in the wind and cold and he'd come to her for warmth.

_'He might not get it this time.' _Amy thought and shook her head. She knew herself better than that. Of course if Ty was cold she'd help him warm up, wrap him in thick blankets and rub his hands with her own until he was warm.

She jumped in alarm as a gun went off somewhere. Setting down her coffee, she ran to the kitchen window and looked out, seeing that all three horses were looking at the stand, but it didn't seem to have overly spooked them.

Amy heard her phone go off with a message and she hurried back to the bedroom and snatched it up, opening the message from Ty.

_I got one! A buck!_

Amy let out a sigh of relief, he hadn't fallen out of the stand or something. She sent a message back.

_Congrats babe, now get your butt back in here and warm up! You are NOT putting your hands up my shirt to warm up this time!_

Not expecting him to reply, Amy went back to the room and jumped back into the bed, sighing to herself. Her phone buzzed and she opened Ty's message.

_I'm going to run this one to a processor, be back soon._

Amy tilted her head. Ty had always skinned his own deer, that she knew of. She realized why he was taking it to a processor instead and smiled. He was so sweet and was taking it so that she wouldn't have to help him skin it, as his buddies had usually done.

That thought made Amy bite her lip slightly. Once he'd met her and had changed, Ty had lost a lot of his friends because they were what he had been and didn't want to keep being or become again; partying bad boys that were in all honesty much worse than Ty had ever been himself.

_'I'll have to fix that and make sure he meets the right kind of friends so he can have someone to hang out with when he feels like it.' _Amy decided and nodded her head determinedly.

Ty had given up a lot for her and made her happier in ways that she never could have imagined, it was about time that she did the same for him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Ty got back inside a few hours later and found Amy making breakfast; bacon, eggs, and toast. Out of the kitchen window, he could see the horses eating breakfast themselves.

"Ah, baby, ya should have left me something to do." He said, stripping off his jacket and vest and laying them over a chair, taking his gun to put into the gun cabinet in their living room.

"It's fine. You sat out in the cold all morning to get us some deer meat." Amy said, smiling at him when he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to her neck. She put a hand on one of his and raised an eyebrow. "I'm shocked, your hands aren't freezing."

"The truck has a heater, baby." Ty chuckled and nuzzled his nose into her neck.

"I hope you're hungry." Amy said.

"Starving." Ty answered and stepped away to get plates. Amy smiled at him over her shoulder as he laid out two plates and grabbed two glasses, filling them with orange juice. He took the bread out of the toaster and started to spread butter over it.

"So what's up for today, now that you've got your deer?" Amy asked, carefully transporting the eggs to the two waiting plates.

Ty bit into his piece of toast, chewing quickly and swallowing before answering. "I gotta run to Mr Sherman's and shoe his horses for him, then going to pick up a horse to bring here for breakin'."

Amy carried their plates to the table, Ty following with the glasses and his piece of toast caught in his mouth.

"Then you better be careful." Amy told him as she sat down.

While she was twenty-one and worked as a vet tech at the local vet clinic, Ty was twenty-two and was use to competing for his money. He was a good roper, but he was currently partner-less, which was keeping him from earning any money that way. So, he'd taken up offering his services as a farrier and horse trainer, even though by all accounts he didn't actually have to work.

Ty had inheritted huge sums of money, well over a million dollars, from both his late father and his late grandfather, but it was all stored away in a bank account and he added to it regularly, refusing to live off of money that he hadn't at least earned a little bit of. Amy added in her check also, though they always kept a little bit of money on them.

Ty smiled at her, "Ain't I always?"

"You do have a reckless side," Amy reminded him as she took a bite of egg.

Ty shrugged, "Just like to keep things interesting."

"At the risk of your safety." Amy shook her head at the thought.

Ty reached out and took her hand, "Hey, it ain't like somethin's gonna happen to me. I'm always gonna come home to you, Amy."

Amy smiled softly and leaned over to kiss his cheek, "You better."

Ty caught her by slipping his hand on the back of her head, "Always and forever, Ames." He pressed his lips to hers to seal the promise.

_**FHH**_

Stopping in town to put some gas in his truck after picking up the horse he was taking home to break, Ty went into the store to pay for it.

"I need thirty on pump four please." He said, handing the cashier a twenty and a ten. The man nodded and put it into the cash register as he activated the pump.

Striding back to his truck, Ty stopped short as someone called his name.

"Ty Baldwin! You no good jackass, where have you been lately?"

Turning, Ty was a little wary of the grinning face that strode up to him, sporting a light beard of black hair and glacial blue eyes. It was Drake Werrins, a guy that Ty had gotten drunk with in the past. He'd been pulled into a few bar fights over Drake as well.

"Hey, how have you been?" Ty asked his old friend, smiling softly as Drake clapped him on the shoulder and grinned at him.

Drake was few inches taller than Ty's six foot and about two dozen pounds heavier than his one-eighty, an intimidating man of twenty-five that had first introduced Ty to really hard liquor when he'd been only seventeen years old.

"Been fine, just wondering where the hell you've been! You've missed some good drinkin' down at the river." Drake said.

Ty shook his head, "I don't drink anymore, Drake. I'm married now."

Drake froze, "Really? When's the baby due?"

Ty quickly waved that away, "I didn't knock a girl up and marry 'er. I married a girl named Amy Fleming."

Drake laughed, "And you stopped drinking for her?"

Ty nodded, "I've changed a lot of myself for her."

Drake stared at Ty like he had lost his mind, "You mean to tell me you've let a girl tell you what to do? Ty! What the hell!"

"I love her, Drake. I _wanted _to be a better man for her." Ty said, putting a hand over his heart.

"This is insane, Ty! I never woulda thought that _you _of all people would fall to some girl's influence!" Drake said.

Ty shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling his temper start to raise, "I'm happy, Drake. Happier than I've ever been before. And I've got to go, got a horse I gotta get home and work with. I'll catch ya later."

Ty turned on his heel to leave and his eyes narrowed when Drake caught him by the shoulder. Of all people, Drake should have known better than to grab him, it never ended well.

"Well let me come with ya and check out this little wifey of yours." Drake said.

Ty was hesitant. He wasn't sure he wanted Drake around Amy, Drake had a way of putting himself in the middle of happy marriages and ruining them. He'd done it to two perfectly happy marriages.

_'You trust Amy more than that! She'd never let him talk her into bed, she loves you!' _An inner voice snapped at him and Ty submitted.

"Sure. Let me fill up and we'll go." Ty said and Drake nodded, walking back to his own truck to follow Ty.

As he pumped his gas and got back into his truck, Ty wondered what he had just gotten himself into. Driving down the road with the horse trailer and Drake's truck in the rearview, Ty swallowed.

He was getting a really, _really _bad feeling about this.

The drive back to the house seemed to be entirely too short and soon Ty was pulling up the drive and taking the trailer to the barn, Drake parking at the house. Ty's eyes locked on his figure in the rearview, getting out and going to the door of the house.

Quicker than he would have thought possible, Ty had the trailer where it was supposed to be and had the horse in it's stall and settled and was heading inside, entering through the kitchen and finding Amy and Drake seated at the table, talking about him of all things.

Ty grimaced when he heard Drake telling Amy about the first time he'd ever been drunk off of moonshine.

"He got so sick! The boy couldn't hold down food for two days!" Drake said and laughed, Amy shaking her head in amusement.

Seeing Ty coming in the door, she smiled at him as he kicked off his boots and went to sit beside her at the table.

"What were you telling her?" He asked Drake, trying to keep his voice calm and friendly. He wondered if he sounded as hostile to Amy and Drake as he did to himself.

Aparently he didn't because Drake laughed and grinned at him, "I was tellin' her about the first time me and the boys got you drunk on moonshine. You remember that, don't ya?"

Ty forced a smile, "How could I forget? That crap burned like fire when I swallowed it."

Drake set down the glass of water he'd been drinking from and motioned to Ty with it as he swallowed, "See there, Amy? See how good you've got him trained? He don't even cuss anymore!"

"Only when he's mad." Amy agreed and smiled at Ty with both pride and love in her eyes. She saw the anger flare in Ty's eyes.

"I ain't trained." He argued and sent Drake a hard look.

Drake snorted, "Sure you ain't. I bet she's already got ya takin' out the trash and going to get the paper." He laughed again and Amy smiled at Ty, rubbing his arm soothingly as she saw the anger in his eyes growing stronger.

"So, Drake, what brings you out to the house today?" Amy asked, wanting to change the subject to keep Ty calm. He kept his temper in check, but he still had times where it would slip out, as it looked like it was about to do.

"Ah I ran into him at the store and found out he'd done gone off and got married so I wanted to see who had managed to put that ball and chain on him. I gotta say, Amy, you would be one hard lady to not take that ball and chain for." Drake said and Ty's eyes narrowed, a new venom in his own eyes as he realized that he recognized the look in Drake's eyes.

_'Oh hell no!' _He thought angrily as he stood and pretended to check the time on his phone.

"Damn, Ames it's time for us to run to Momma's." He said and forced an apologetic smile for his one time friend, "She's wanting some help around the house and we said we'd help. Hate to have to leave so fast."

"Not a problem, be sure to tell that sweet lady hi for me." Drake said, standing as well and following Ty outside.

Amy sighed as the door shut behind them, knowing that Ty was leaving to get Drake to leave and wondering what had caused his temper to stir so suddenly. Hadn't Drake said that they were friends and had been for years?

She was cut off from her thoughts as Ty came back into the house and jerked his head at her, "Come on, gotta make it look real and might as well go see how her damn date went." Ty said and Amy raised an eyebrow before standing and pulling on her jacket, locking up the house before following Ty out to his truck and waving to Drake as he drove off.

Getting into the truck, Amy looked to Ty curiously as they themselves left their house.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened in there?" Amy asked as Ty pulled out onto the road.

Ty's knuckles were white he was gripping the steering wheel so hard, "Drake has a way of wanting married women, and he had that look in his eyes when he was lookin' at you." He said angrily.

Amy looked alarmed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! I've seen that look in his eyes before and it always leads to a troubled marriage for some poor bastard because Drake got into his wife's pants!" Ty said, his voice loaded with venom, "And I for one am not going to be the stupid bastard who let's you get hurt by him!"

"How could he hurt me? Ty, I would never cheat on you and you know that!" Amy sounded hurt.

"I know, I know," Ty said quickly. "But he's been accused of slipping a woman something and getting at her like that, when she didn't know it. I am not letting him get near enough to do that to you. I'd go to the pen for the rest of my life."

Amy frowned, "And why would you go to the pen, Ty?"

"Because I would kill that son of a bitch!" Ty said and Amy shook her head, noting that Ty was enraged or he wouldn't be cussing like he was.

"Ty pull over." She said and he looked at her in alarm.

"What?" He asked.

"Pull over." Amy said again.

Reluctantly, Ty pulled onto the shoulder, "What, Ames?"

Amy pulled him to her and kissed him, catching him off guard. He quickly recovered and kissed her back, looking at her in wonder when she pulled back, and rubbed over his cheeks with her thumbs.

"Ty, I love you and I would never put myself in a situation where either of us could be hurt by it in any way." She whispered.

Ty swallowed, "I know you wouldn't, Ames. I'm just protective."

Amy chuckled, "Tell me about it. Now come on, I'm sure you're just dying to hear how your mom's date went."

Ty leaned back into his seat and pulled back out onto the road, smiling softly to himself and thanking God that he'd married such an amazing woman.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

The delight on Karen's face when Ty and Amy walked into her kitchen helped sooth the last of Ty's anger away.

"Hey Momma." He said, hugging her briefly before sitting down at the kitchen counter while Amy hugged her mother-in-law.

"Now what brings you kids here today?" Karen asked, smiling as she took a seat by her son and Amy sat across from them.

"We were wanting to see how your date went." Amy said, grinning. Karen sent her a beautific smile.

"It went really well! He opened all my doors, pulled out my chair. Wouldn't let me pay for anything!" Karen said and laughed, "It made me feel like I was sixteen again! Ty's father did the same things and it was always so nice."

"So what did ya'll do?" Ty asked, folding his arms on the countertop and looking at his mother curiously.

"Oh he took me out to eat at Red Lobster, then we went to those cute little shops downtown and he bought me a huge bouquet of flowers." Karen said and Ty raised an eyebrow.

"That's good, Momma. He stayed a gentleman completely?" Ty asked it casually but Karen knew that the slightest idea that John, her date, had been anything else but a gentleman and he would end up with a bloody lip, if he was lucky enough to get off so easily. Ty may have calmed down considerably, but when it came to her Karen knew that he would always fight someone for her.

"Yes he did. He was very sweet, you would have been proud." Karen said and smiled at Ty.

Ty snorted but didn't comment.

"Are you two going to go out again?" Amy asked, sending Ty a glance when he sent her a sharp look.

"I was wanting to. But only time will tell." Karen said, noticing the looks the two shared. She reached out and took Amy's hand gratefully, so relieved that she finally had someone on her side to help Ty come to terms with her dating. She loved her daughter-in-law like Amy was her own.

Ty was watching the two and while he was happy that they got along so well, he was a little bit put off that they paired off against him so easily on the dating issue. He wanted his mother to be happy, but he wasn't going to stand by and let her get caught up with some jerk who didn't deserve her.

"So, what are you two up to today now that you've heard about my wonderful time last night?" Karen asked, looking at her son.

Ty shrugged, "Got a ten point this mornin', took him to the processor. Shoed Mr Sherman's horses, now I got a horse back at the house that needs breakin'."

Karen nodded and turned to Amy, "And since it's Saturday you're off from the clinic, right?"

Amy nodded, "This weekend is mine, I'm not so sure about next weekend though."

"Well, I was wondering if you two would be up to going with John and me tonight, we were going to go riding out on his land and he's very interested in getting to know both of you. Home cooked supper comes with the deal." Karen said, noting how Ty raised an eyebrow.

"We'd love to." Amy said, smiling at Karen brightly. Karen beamed back at her gratefully.

"He knows the risks of screwing up around me, don't he?" Ty asked, standing and going over to the cabinets, getting a glass and going to the fridge for ice. He poured a glass of tea and walked back to the counter, taking a drink before offering the glass to Amy, who took it to take a sip of Karen's tea herself.

"He's well aware of your reputation, Ty. He's glad that you're so protective of me." Karen told him.

Ty looked surprised, "Oh really? So he knows that I'll have no problem whoopin' him from here to Sunday?"

"That won't be necessary because he is not going to mess up. Give him a chance and you'll see that, son." Karen said.

Ty shrugged, "We'll see how things go tonight before I make my mind up on that one, Momma."

Karen sighed, "Just promise me that you'll give him a chance, Ty."

Ty pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek, "I can promise my best behavior tonight. If I act up then I'm sure Amy'll get me for it anyway."

Amy smiled at her husband sweetly, "You'd be correct there, hun."

Ty sighed and shook his head, slightly amused, "Between you two, I don't stand a chance."

Karen and Amy laughed and both took one of Ty's hands, making him grin.

"This only proves my point." He said, motioning to where they held his hands and they smiled at him sweetly.

"Are you two in any kind of hurry?" Karen asked.

"Naw." Ty answered.

"Good! Then would you mind helping me in the attic? There's a bunch of boxes that I want to go through." Karen said.

"Sure, we'd love to help." Amy said, nodding her head.

"Thank you." Karen said.

Ty nodded and followed his mother and wife out of the kitchen and into the living room, up the stairs to go to the attic. As he went, he let his hand trail the banister, thinking of all the time's he'd been a kid and had slid down it trying to beat his father down from the attic. It brought a small smile to his face.

Entering the attic, Karen picked up one of the smaller boxes and started out of the room with it, Amy and Ty box grabbing a box and starting back down after her.

"Alright, let's see what we have here." Karen said, sitting in her chair and opening the box she'd brought down. She started pulling out stacks of papers and laying them in her lap to go through.

Ty's box contained home videos and pictures, his eyes glazing a little when he picked up a picture of himself and his father.

In the photo, Ty was three and was watching his father with rapt attention as he farried a horse, sitting a few feet away dressed in a pair of jeans and boots with a black t-shirt that read _Cowboy in Training_ on it.

Smiling softly, almost sadly, Ty set the picture down on the table gently and picked up another. This one was his mother pregnant with him, smiling brightly with her hands on her rounded belly, dressed in a blue sundress and sandals. The little writing Ty found on the back of the picture said that she'd been eight months pregnant with him.

"What is it, hunny?" Karen frowned as Ty picked up the two pictures and held them side by side, looking at them closely.

"Just some pictures." Ty whispered, setting them both down on the table and reaching into the box to pull out a few more.

Amy and Karen watched Ty closely as he continued to look through the old pictures, flares of pain coming into his eyes at certain pictures. There was a reason that he had avoided looking at old photos after his dad had passed away, and this was why. He didn't consider himself strong enough to look at these and not long for what he'd had, not break down at the thought that his father hadn't been there to see him get married, would never hold any child he ever had.

When his vision blurred and his eyes burned, Ty stood and placed the pictures on the table, walking out the front door and quietly closing it behind him.

Amy was on her feet and after him immediately. Ty had suffered enough by himself, he had her now and she wouldn't let him hurt alone. Stepping out onto the front porch, she saw him standing on the end of the porch, his right arm up so that his forearm was braced against one of the wooden supports with his left shoved into his pocket and he was looking out towards the backyard, silent.

"Ty." She whispered, letting him know that she was there as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his back.

He pulled his hand from his pocket and put it over her hands on his stomach, not saying a word.

"Do you want to talk?" She asked.

Ty swallowed thickly and when he spoke his voice shook a tiny bit, "It hurts, Ames. He's not here anymore, he wasn't at our wedding. He won't see any kid that we have."

Amy squeezed gently, "I know it hurts, but you have to know that he _was_ at our wedding, and he _will_ see our kids. Maybe not physically, but spiritually." She carefully stepped around Ty and looked up at him, pain streaking through her as she saw the tears that he was fighting to keep at bay. She reached up and wiped a tear away that managed to slip free.

"Those pictures just brought it all back." He said and sighed sadly, his shoulders slumping.

Amy nodded, "I know. That happens to me when I look at pictures."

They stood in silence for several minutes before Ty took a deep breath and shook himself mentally.

"Let's go back inside." He whispered and Amy took his hand, determined for him to know that she was there for him and always would be.

"Ready?" She asked. He nodded and they went back inside, back to the photos and all the memories that came with them.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

"Okay, we can turn it off now."

"No! This is so cute!"

"And embarrassing." Ty muttered as they all watched one of the baby videos that had been in the box he'd looked through. On the TV screen, the image of him as a seven month old being tickled by his cousin played. He giggled and kicked at his older cousin, who had been eight at the time, as she tickled his belly.

Amy leaned into his side and grinned at him, "Well that's one thing that hasn't changed about you."

"What?" Ty asked, raising an eyebrow. In response, Amy reached for his side and he caught her hand with a quick, breathless, "No!"

Amy laughed and smiled at him sweetly as he eyed her warily for a moment. Karen smiled as she watched the two.

"Can we watch another video?" Amy asked as the one they'd been watching came to an abrupt end.

"Nope!" Ty said, quickly snatching up the box of videos and carrying it with him as he grabbed the one out of the player and put it back with the others. He didn't see his mother mouth 'later' to Amy, who grinned eagerly.

Ty took the box back upstairs to set it with the others they had finished and came back downstairs.

"That's enough for today. I don't want to keep you two here all day." Karen said.

"We can help with some more of it, Karen." Amy offered.

"It's fine, we got most of it done. It doesn't have to be finished all in one day." And the last few boxes were all personal possesions of Ty's Father's that Karen didn't want to upset Ty with.

"You're sure?" Ty asked, taking the last gulp out of his glass of tea. He set the empty glass down on the table to take to the kitchen in a minute.

"Positive." Karen said.

"Well what are ya gonna do now?" Ty asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and lean on them.

"Hm, probably go get some errands done in town." Karen answered with a small smile and a shrug.

"That's it?" Amy frowned.

"For now. I can go get the errands done now and then get back with plenty of time to get ready for tonight." Karen said and the hint of excitement in her eyes cut into Ty as a realization came to him. He swallowed hard and smiled at his mother.

"Tonight'll be a good night, Momma." He promised and Karen nodded her head.

"It will. Just you wait, Ty. John is a good man and you'll be convinced tonight!" Karen said.

"We'll see, Momma. We'll see." Ty chuckled and stood, stretching his arms over his head and picking up his glass. "We'll get so that you can get ready and everything. Just call me when you start getting ready to go and we'll be ready by the time you leave." Ty said, walking over to his mother and hugging her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Perplexed by Ty's sudden change, Amy hugged Karen bye and followed Ty into the kitchen.

"I'll be sure to call you!" Karen called, waving with a big grin on her face as they went to the truck. They waved back as they got in and Ty started the truck.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked as Karen disappeared back inside.

Ty sighed and put the truck in drive, a sadness in his eyes, "She's been alone too long, and I know that's my fault but I didn't want to see her with some jerk, ya know? She doesn't deserve to be by herself like that. I feel horrible."

Amy frowned, "Why do you feel horrible, Ty? You were only taking care of her the best you could."

"Yeah but I know that some of the men I ran off were good men, I just wasn't ready to see Momma with anyone other than my Dad yet. Now she's been alone so long and I can really see just what damage I did." Ty answered as he drove.

"What damage?" Amy asked in alarm.

"Back there, she didn't have anything to do, just go do errands. When Dad was alive, she was always happy and bustling around, it was like she never had a free minute until it came to me or Dad. Now she's been alone since Dad died and that was years ago and she has nothing to do. It has to get lonely." Ty said and ran a hand into his hair, angry with himself for causing that to his mother.

Amy reached over and put a hand on Ty's arm, "Ty that was not your intention and you know that! You only wanted to protect your mom like you knew your dad would want you to do."

Ty didn't say anything and Amy sighed.

"When we get home you're getting a massage. You're working yourself up." She said and shook her head.

Ty shook his head, a soft smile on his face, "I don't deserve you, you know that right? I get mad at myself for a perfectly valid reason and you knock that reason on it's head and then want to give me a massage to help me feel better? You're too good for me, Ames."

Amy sighed, "That's nuts and you know it. I've wanted you ever since I was a senior in high school and I'm so blessed that I'm with you now."

Ty raised an eyebrow in alarm, "How did you know me when you were a senior in high school? I would sure as hell remember you, Ames, and I don't remember you from high school."

Amy laughed, "You were going out with a girl from my class at the time and she was always bragging about the fact that she was with you and what all you'd bought her and things like that. All I knew then was your reputation so I thought she was the biggest, _easiest_ idiot alive. Then there was that day that she made you come eat lunch with her and I saw you for the first time. That was it for me."

"I don't even remember her name." Ty said with a blink before grinning at Amy, "But that was it? One look at me changed your whole perspective on me?"

"Basically." Amy laughed again and shook her head.

"So you did use to think I was no good!" Ty pointed out and Amy grinned at him.

"Oh of course. I told you when we met that I knew your reputation, did I not?" She teased.

"I don't know what to think right now." Ty laughed, "You thought I was no good until you saw me? Thank God you still gave me a chance!"

Amy leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek, "I wanted you, I was so shocked when you stopped to help me that day in the snow."

"Well I couldn't just leave ya there to freeze." Ty said, catching her hand and pressing the back of it to his lips.

Amy smiled at him and leaned over, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I love you."

Ty smiled, "I love you too."


End file.
